Wooden tongue for joining flooring



(N70 Model.)

I. H. SPELMAN.

WOODEN TONGUB POR JOINING PLO0RING, am.

Patented May 5, 1885.

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IRWIN I-I. SPELMAN, OF OORTLAND, OHIO.

WOODEN TONGUE FOR JOlNlNG FLOORING, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,233, dated May 5,1885.

Applicatitn filed March 17, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRWIN H. SPELMAN, of Cortland, in the county ofTrumbull and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Vooden Tongues for Joining Flooring, 85e.; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto whichit pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in tongues for matching or joiningboards or oth-- er pieces of wood, designed more especially for door,ceiling, cabinet work, &c., the object being to provide a tongueseparated from the boards or pieces that are to be joined, and fittinginto grooves in the edges of the adjoining pieces, and the grain of woodin the tongues running crosswise of the tongues, to the end that athinner and at the same time stronger tongue is had, that the boards arenot reduced in width to form a tongue, as has heretofore been thepractice, and that, `by reason of the thin tongue and corresponding thingrooves in.

the boards, thinner boards can be successfully matched, and, as in caseof iiooring, a greater thickness of wood is left above the groove,andthe wearing capacity of the flooring is thereby proportionatelyincreased.

A further obj ect is to provide extremely thin tongues consisting of twothin strips of wood of equal width, with the grain of each runningcrosswise, and applied to each other atwise, with a thread or twinebetween the layers, to prevent the tongue from breaking in handling, andthe whole glued or cemented together.

With these objects in view my invention consists in certain features ofconstruction and in combination of parts, hereinafter described, andpointed out in the claims.

The increasing scarcity of good lumber in the market renders itdesirable to'economize in its use. It is well known that in dressingiiooring and other boards, especially when the boards are narrow, agreat waste is had in reducing the width of the boards to form thetongue; also, such tongues must be of considerable'thickness, or theyare liable to split oi where they join the board 5 also, if the tonguesthe tongues.

are of sufficient thickness to give the required strength, it wouldpreclude their use on very t-hin boards, as a corresponding groove onthe edges of thin boards would leave the walls or lips of the groove sothin that they would not have sufficient strength. I have thereforeinvented a tongue in which the grain of the wood runs crosswise, byreason of which the tongue can be made' very thin and still have therequisite strength, and of course the grooves are correspondingly narrowand may be made on the edges of thin boards, leaving the lips of thegroove sufficiently strong.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are end elevations offioors, showing my improved tongues in position. Fig. 3 is an enlargedview in perspective of a piece of tongue consisting of a singlethickness of wood. Fig. 4t is an enlarged perspective view of a piece oftongue consisting of two layers of wood with a thread or twine betweenthe layers. Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of aportion of a coil oftongue of the kind shown in Figs. l and 3. Fig. 6 is a view inperspective showing a coil of double tongue such as is shown in Figs. 2and 4.

I have chosen to illustrate my improved tongue as applied to flooring;but it is equally well adapted to siding and all purposes where piecesof wood are joined together.

A represents the door-boards, and B and B rIhese tongues are cutcircumferentially from a revolving block or log in substantially thesame manner that basketsplints are cut, except that slitting-knives arearranged to divide the cutting into suitable widths, usually fromthree-eighths to one-half of an inch, more or less, in width, so thatthese strips, as they come from the log, are ready for use, in case butone thickness is used for the tongue. If the tongues are of considerablethicknesssay one-eighth of an inch or moreone thickness of wood issufficient, and the grain of the wood running crosswise, a tongueone-eighth of an inch thick will be much stronger than a tongue ofdouble that thickness made in the ordinary way. These strips arepreferably rectangular in cross-section, and as they are eut are coiledup in rolls and. secured for shipment. Hard woods are pref- IGO erable,and Sycamore and Various other kinds of cheap wood make excellenttongues. The tongues, being so much thinner than the ordinary tongue,leave the grooved edges ofthe board correspondingly stronger.

In ceiling and various kinds of cabinetwork where costly woods are usedit is desirable to have the boards as thin as possible, and thisnecessitates a thin tongue. For such purposes I cutthe wood verythin-say from a one thirtysecond to a one sixty-fourth of an inch, moreor less, in thickness-and glue two such strips together, as shown at B',Figs. 2, 4, and 6,with a thread or twine, usually common cottonwrapping-twine b, of small size, in the center between the layers ofwood. This is cheaply done in the following manner: A ball of twine iskept submerged in a pot of hot glue. Iwo coils of the wood are arrangedflatwise to each other, so that they are drawn in betweencoinpressing-rollers with the twine in the -center of the strips.

The tongues, as they leave coiled into rolls for shipment.

The string is ofcourse flattened by the pressure of the rollers, andthis leaves the tongue a triiie thicker in the center, which is anadvantage, as it iills the groove at this part,and the edges,- beingslightly thinner, are more easil inserted in the grooves. Double tonguesthe rollers, are

may be made in this manner that need not eX- eeed one thirty-second ofan inch in thickness, and boards three-sixteenths of an inch inthickness may be successfully joined by such tongues. The grooves in theboards for such purposes are out with a thin saw.

What I claim is- 1. A wooden tongue for joining ooring, ceiling, orother pieces of wood,with the grain of wood of the tongue runningerosswise, substantially as set forth.

2. A wooden tongue for joining pieces of wood, and consisting,essentially, of awooden strip approximately rectangular incross-seetion, with the grain of the wood running crosswise of thetongue, substantially as set forth.

3. A tongue for joining boards or other pieces of wood, and consisting,essentially, of two strips of wood applied iiatwise to each other, -athread, twine, or equivalent laid lengthwise between the wooden strips,and the whole glued'or cemented together, and so arranged that the grainof wood is erosswise of the tongue, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification, in the presence of twowitnesses, this 6th day of March, 1885.

IRWIN H. SPELMAN.

Witnesses: n

GHAs. H. Donnie, ALBERT E. LYNCH.

